Kevin Johnson (l.) has taken the reins at Starbucks from founder Howard Schultz (r.).

By

NicoleLyn Pesce

This is one tough act to follow.

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz grew his Seattle coffee chain into an $84 billion global brand, and made headlines with big moves like buying the Teavana tea chain for $620 million in 2012.

But his successor Kevin Johnson, who took over after Schultz stepped down last summer, has other ideas for giving the coffee giant a jolt. He closed all 379 Teavana stores in malls, which were underperforming, just three months after he came on the job. And while Schultz had planned for Starbucks to open about 1,000 Starbucks Reserve cafes, which sell more expensive coffee brewed from rare beans, Johnson plans to first test how successful six to 10 Reserve stores are before launching any more. In fact, the Wall Street Journal (which shares the same parent company as Moneyish) recently reported that during his first few months on the job, Johnson opened meetings by reminding everyone, “I’m not Howard, I’m Kevin.”

That’s a familiar refrain for musician Adam Cole, 49, who faced the daunting task of replacing a beloved middle school teacher who had led the Atlanta chorus program that he was taking over for almost 20 years. “Chorus teachers have to work very hard to earn the respect and fidelity of their choirs. When a new director takes their place, they must quickly establish themselves in the hearts and minds of the singers, or lose many of them in a matter of weeks,” he told Moneyish.

“It was inevitable that I would lose some singers,” he added — especially after he canceled the spring musical to do a spring pop concert, instead. And 10 or so students did drop out of his eighth grade class. But he ended up teaching there for four years, winning over many students from their sixth grade starts through their eighth grade graduations.

When Amanda Ponzar, 41, stepped into a new marketing position in 2016, she hustled to rack up a few wins early on to get people excited about her vision — and to show that the company’s almost decade-old marketing strategy needed to be shaken up. That included landing a front-page story for her client in USA Today. “It’s not enough to just talk a big game,” she said. “I’ve increased PR and media coverage; increased website traffic; conducted successful targeted marketing campaigns bringing in new revenue ... and much more.”

But in many cases, newcomers need to walk a fine line between asserting themselves, and respecting those who came before them. So here’s some tips for following a larger-than-life predecessor.

Know what’s expected of you. Make sure you’re on the same page as your new employer. “Be clear on how your success will be measured, and make sure that the leadership’s expectations about what you will accomplish are aligned with yours,” Roy Cohen, a career counselor and executive coach, told Moneyish. “If they tell you, ‘We are looking for you to be a change agent, and we want you to practice tough love,’ you need to be absolutely clear what they mean by that. Is it baby steps, or a big dramatic shift?” Cole received clear direction from his new employer about the expectations of his chorus teacher position, for example, such as training the students to compete in an annual music festival scored by judges. “I tried to be as absolutely good at my teaching and musicianship as I could before I got there, reading up on the subject and preparing lesson plans well in advance,” he said. “If you go in there just winging it, you’re setting yourself up for failure.”

Listen to your new team. Before Ponzar made any of her big moves, she asked her crew to fill her in on what had and hadn’t worked for the company in the past. “I listened, talked to as many staffers as I could to identify issues, and then started solving them,” she told Moneyish. “No one knows who we are? I’ll get us media coverage. You can’t use our off-the-shelf product to sell? I created a customized cause tool and rolled it out for customers, etc..” Cohen added, “Ask questions, and listen to what people are telling you. People don’t like change, and they’ll push back even if what you’re proposing is good for them. So if you present your ideas while weaving in the points of views of your staff, they will feel more invested in them.”

Respect your predecessor. Even if you were brought in to shake things up, you should show an appreciation for what was there before, and what clients and colleagues have grown accustomed to. “Don’t throw them under the bus, especially if people liked them,” said Cohen. “There will be heightened sensitivities when a new person comes on board,” as some staffers will still be loyal to their old boss. Ponzar agreed. “It’s not that I’m dismissive of my predecessors, or the work they did, or programs they launched; it’s just that they are no longer here, and I am,” she said. “Some of my predecessors invested significant resources in web platforms, agencies, new products, etc., and that’s one thing I haven’t done.” Plus, you never know when you might need to ask your predecessor for help.

And ask your predecessor for help. Make that former manager a mentor; he or she knows the quirks and intricacies of your new company, as well as how to deal with the temperaments of different people on staff. So when the previous chorus teacher told Cole to reach out with any questions, he did just that — such as emailing her to run through a checklist of what he needed to do before taking the kids to the music festival. “She really helped me with which bus companies to trust, making sure the students get something to eat, all of that,” he said. But Cohen warned you shouldn’t rely on them too much: get their advice, but don’t get them to do the job for you. “You want to make a name for yourself, and not appear too attached to theirs,” he said.

Weed out disrupters. The ugly truth is, part of your new responsibilities may include letting some people go. Or you may need to nip potential troublemakers in the bud. “Some problem folks loyal to the old guard may dismiss what you’re telling them, or may even actively undermine your efforts … because they are simply not invested in your success,” said Cohen. “That calls for a tough conversation where you have to assert that you’ve been hired or promoted to take on this position, these are the new rules, and if they’re not happy with them, here’s the exit door.” But treat all outgoing members with dignity and respect, and offer fair severance packages where possible.

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